memory_alphafandomcom-20200223-history
Borg
Caption: The Borg Queen in 2373 Caption: An assimilated Cardassian, who is now a Borg drone Caption: An assimilated Bolian Caption: Korok, an assimilated Klingon in 2377 The Borg are a race of cybernetic beings - part organic, part machine - originating from the Delta Quadrant. Perhaps one of the most feared races in the galaxy, the Borg exist as a hive mind, many working as one. They have one fixed goal: the assimilation of other worthy beings and technologies into the Collective. Physiology Since the Borg assimilate beings from every race they have encountered (with few exceptions), the physiology of the 'average' drone varies. However, all drones have certain common aspects. All Borg are cybernetic, their organic bodies merged with synthetic tissues and cybernetic implants. All drones are linked to the Collective through subspace transcievers. History General The precise origins of the Collective are unknown. Starfleet assets have encountered references to their existence at least 900 years ago, and possibly earlier. Contact with the Alpha Quadrant The history of humanity's encounters with the Borg has become rather more complicated than previously believed, due to recent discoveries in Starfleet's historical database. Indeed, the exact date of first contact with the Collective has shifted somewhat. Reports received from Captain Picard of the ''Enterprise''-E following the battle at Earth in 2373 suggest that humanity's first contact with the Borg took place in April of 2063, following a temporal incursion made by a Borg Sphere shortly after the battle. The Sphere was destroyed in Earth orbit, after it attempted to interfere with First Contact. It was believed that the Sphere's presence had no impact on the timeline. However, records recently unearthed at Starfleet Headquarters, and long thought lost, have revealed a further encounter with the cybernetic species. In 2153, scientists investigating unusual debris at the North Pole reactivated two drones found preserved in the ice. The two drones assimilated the science team and used an Arctic Transport to escape from Earth, intending to head to contemporary Borg space. The ''Enterprise'', which at the time was the closest vessel to react, engaged and destroyed the vessel, but not before the drones transmitted pulsar triangulation coordinates towards the Delta Quadrant. The message was expected to arrive at its destination some 200 years later. Although it is not clear whether the signal ever arrived it is interesting to note that the Borg began to make incursions into the Alpha Quadrant in the 2350s. These early incursions left very little evidence but some people did begin to believe that a hitherto unknown power was making its presence felt. This led Magnus Hansen and Erin Hansen to petition Starfleet for the loan of a ship so that they could find hard evidence of this species. He took his daughter Annika Hansen aboard the ship, the USS Raven, and set off. By 2356 he had found evidence of the Borg but he and his family were assimilated before he could inform Starfleet of his discovery. (VOY: "The Raven") Thus the Borg incursions continued without the Federation’s knowledge. The largest of these incursions occurred in 2364 when the Borg wiped out a series of Romulan and Federation outposts in Sector 30 and Sector 31 on the borders of the Romulan Neutral Zone. (TNG: "The Neutral Zone") In mid 2365, the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) | Enterprise-D]] was thrown into Borg space by the entity known as Q where they encountered a Borg cube. Although they suffered losses, the Enterprise-D became the first ship to survive such an encounter and so managed to inform Starfleet of the existence of the Borg. (TNG: "Q Who") First Attack on Earth Via these various contacts, the Borg were now fully aware of humanity and made their first concerted attempt to assimilate the entire race in late 2366. A single cube destroyed the New Providence Colony, the USS Lalo and kidnapped Captain Picard when the Enterprise-D attempted to intervene. Picard was partially assimilated and became a Borg drone known as Locutus of Borg. The cube proceeded towards Earth and engaged Starfleet in the Battle of Wolf 359, resulting in the destruction of 39 Federation ships. On arrival at earth an away-team from the Enterprise-D successfully rescued Picard/Locutus and used his connection to the Borg to implant false data in the cube, destroying it. (TNG: "The Best of Both Worlds, Part I", "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II") The Rogue Collective The Enterprise-D again encountered the Borg 2368 when they rescued a single drone from a crashed Borg shuttle. This drone was cut off from the collective and slowly regained an individual identity, eventually being named Hugh. Although a plan was put forward to use Hugh to destroy the collective in its entirety it was vetoed by Captain Picard and Hugh was returned to the collective. However his presence had unforeseen consequences. (TNG: "I, Borg") The individuality present in Hugh spread through the cube he returned to causing a catastrophic separation of the cube from the rest of the continuum. This rogue mini-collective was unsure how to cope with its freedom and so fell under the influence of the android, Lore. He persuaded them to aid his plan to conquer Earth. Eventually, the crew of the Enterprise-D was able to persuade the mini-collective of Lore’s unreliability. The mini-collective then disappeared into space and has not been encountered since. (TNG: "Descent, Part I", "Descent, Part II") Second Attack on Earth The main Borg collective made another attempt in Earth in 2373 once more sending a single cube. The Federation lost a number of ships in the Battle of Sector 001 but the cube was destroyed using information supplied by Captain Picard of the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-E) | Enterprise-E]]. His knowledge of the cube’s weakness appeared to derive from his earlier connection to the collective. While the cube was destroyed, a Sphere escaped the battle and travelled back to 2063 followed by the Enterprise, this creating the first Borg contact mentioned above. The battle was also humanity’s first encounter with the Borg Queen (although there is evidence that she was present at Wolf 359). Since that point, there has been little Borg activity in the Alpha Quadrant, however the situation in the Delta Quadrant has been very different. The Borg in the Delta Quadrant Insert text here. Culture The Borg have no culture. Their sole purpose is the assimilation of other beings. To them, art, music, leisure, all are irrelevant. Military Borg vessels are amongst the most powerful in the galaxy. Highly decentralised, they have no bridge, living quarters or engineering section. All drones collectively operate the vessel, under the general direction of the Collective as a whole, and the Borg Queen as a nexus. Examples of Borg vessels include: *Cube *Sphere *Scout *Diamond *Tactical Cube *Asymmetric Prototype Related Topics *Borg species numbers nl:Borg